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a good alistar will punish your aggressive playstyle making it impossible to get ahead early by killing the enemy adc, check how comfortable the player feels on alistar, ask the jungler for a couple of ganks and it'll be good
Braum
braum is annoying to deal with because of how tanky he is and is able to shield the adc from incoming attacks/spells, bait out his shield before even thinking about going in
Pyke
pyke is annoying to deal with, your thing is to poke, he heals a lot of it back and has a lot of cc, do your best not to die
Thresh
thresh has a lot in his kit thats just straight up annoying, a lot of cc, slows, a shield, be mindful where he is on the map, try to roam carefully
Kai'Sa
once Kai'sa hits lvl 6, she can bring you down easily because of her shield, just be cautious to not get killed by accident and sooner or later she will make a mistake
Draven
draven is a confusing character, he is one of the most difficult adc's to play against as bard but he can be dealt with "easily", make the trades as quick as possible without losing too much hp, prepare your heals under the tower or somewhere safe and try to get your damage off
Caitlyn
try to get close to her while she's farming to poke her, expect an auto attack from her and place your W beforehand so its ready to heal you whenever you need it
Brand
is annoying to deal with, bait out his spells and go in, if he is 6 be more cautious and roam mid more often to get your midlaner a kill.
Xayah
just don't stand between her and her feather and you'll be good
Blitzcrank
while he can be scary at times, he's much more easier to deal with than thresh
Soraka
she's squishy, has no escape and no hard CC outside of her E, but if you get rooted by it then you're either braindead or should turn your monitor on.
Ashe
is probably the easiest adc to deal with, if you stand inside of minions her only possibility to trade with you is her AA/Q/R, she also doesnt deal as much dmg as other adcs and has 0 mobility
Ezreal
his Q and E can be very annoying, his kit just cucks you every time you want to kill him
Janna
she can be annoying for the shields and ultimate, but overall is not a big problem, focus your stun on the enemy adc
Jinx
try to stay healthy and possibly behind minions so her W can't hit you and kill you with her R, she's squishy and has no escape
Kalista
while her E can deal massive amounts of damage, she needs to stack it up, you're playing bard, quick trades are your forte, be cautious of her support once she's 6
Karma
deals a lot of damage, has an annoying shield and a snare, depending on her adc reaction, she can be either very easy to deal with or very lethal
Leona
extremely tanky CC war machine, if she hits you with her E you can just go ahead and make yourself a coffee or tea and when you come back you're gonna be either dead or still stunned.
Kog'Maw
very squishy, zero mobilty, exacly what you want, quick trades against this guy and you're good
Lulu
she can deal more damage than you while staying healthy, very dangerous
Miss Fortune
she's a scary peach, don't stay behind low health minions, she's squishy and that gives you the opportunity to punish her
Morgana
her blackshield doesn't block your stun, it only blocks the damage from your stun, use it to your advantage and watch our for her Q's aswell
Nami
she's very annoying, she can damage you and heal herself at the same time, be very cautious fighting her
Lucian
his kit is very scary, he can dash away from your Q and punish you for that, remember to put your heals under tower or somewhere safe
Rakan
you're having fun? well not anymore, you're against rakan, get your boots as fast as possible to deal with his knock up, remember to set up your heals under tower or somewhere safe, try to save your ultimate to counter his engage.
Sona
while she has a lot of dmg, you can outdamage her any day, be cautious of her ultimate and you're good
Varus
he has a lot of damaging abilities but shouldn't be a problem if you're comfortable with bard, just dodge his Q/ult and punish him for being squishy, having no escape and for existing
Twitch
just be cautious of when he hits 6 and you're low
Vayne
try to not get hit 3 times in a row by a vayne, make the trades as fast as possible
Taric
he's not that much of a threat if you're away from his melee range, his passive is annoying when he pounds you in your face
Zyra
annoying patchup, deals more damage than you, try not to get combo'd
Sivir
her Q deals a lot of damage, bait out her E before fighting, use your passive to proc her E, after that try to stun her or slow her first
Jhin
watch out for his 4th auto attack, punish him while he's reloading and punish when he goes for a cs
Tristana
just don't let her stack her E, be cautious of her ultimate as it deals a lot of damage and don't forget about her W reset she gets after a kill/assist or when she makes the bomb goes BOOM
Yuumi
the only inconvenience is her heal which you can reduce by getting a 800 gold item, not so difficult to beat, only in certain match-ups can she be a real threat
Nautilus
difficult match-up, dont pick bard into naut
Senna
Senna is broken, its alright early but, until you get your second item, (rapid fire cannon) dont try to trade if she has too much range already
Swain
rarely seen, play carefully and you should be fine, make a few stupid mistakes and youre done
Rell
perma ban Rell, she's worse for you than Thresh,
Tristana
you have lots of damage, if you stun the enemy she can engage and slow them additionally, you can also ult the enemies first for her to engage with her W and E and your Q
Caitlyn
if you hit your ultimate and follow up with your Q, she can place a trap under the enemy and this way you can perma stun the enemy to death, really good combo
Draven
draven being draven, strong, the damage you two give out is enough to kill the enemies
Ezreal
he's alright, you both deal a lot of dmg but it doesn't feel the same as playing with a draven
Jinx
she can place her traps under the enemy if you ult>Q them, deals lots of damage and she can just ult the survivors
Kai'Sa
both of you deal lots of damage and your stun lets her ult to the enemy to bring them down
Kalista
her ult isn't what you want as bard, while it lets you engage and knock up the enemies, YOU'RE THE ONE ENGAGING, you can die easily like that, be careful
Lucian
lucian is lucian, the both of you deal enough damage to kill the enemy team
Kog'Maw
you need to protect Kog'Maw to let him stay in one place and get a penta every teamfight, you're bard, its not that easy, you won't be able to do that
Miss Fortune
if you guys time it right, you can ult the enemies followed up with your stun to let MF ult the enemies and get a double kill
Twitch
same thing as with miss fortune, your combo is strong at 6, when twitch walks to lane after backing and uses Q so the enemies don't see him you can bait them and ult them
Varus
varus might be alright if youre duo'd or if youre just in sync, try not to ult enemies that he's trying to ult first.
Vayne
while your combo is alright, vayne has to attack only one champion for her to deal damage, otherwise she doesn't get her W off and it's just underwhelming when you compare it to the combo you have with miss fortune
Xayah
you have lots of damage and cc, because of Xayah's ult you won't need to use your own ult to defend her
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Tristana
you have lots of damage, if you stun the enemy she can engage and slow them additionally, you can also ult the enemies first for her to engage with her W and E and your Q
Caitlyn
if you hit your ultimate and follow up with your Q, she can place a trap under the enemy and this way you can perma stun the enemy to death, really good combo
Draven
draven being draven, strong, the damage you two give out is enough to kill the enemies
Ezreal
he's alright, you both deal a lot of dmg but it doesn't feel the same as playing with a draven
Jinx
she can place her traps under the enemy if you ult>Q them, deals lots of damage and she can just ult the survivors
Kai'Sa
both of you deal lots of damage and your stun lets her ult to the enemy to bring them down
Kalista
her ult isn't what you want as bard, while it lets you engage and knock up the enemies, YOU'RE THE ONE ENGAGING, you can die easily like that, be careful
Lucian
lucian is lucian, the both of you deal enough damage to kill the enemy team
Kog'Maw
you need to protect Kog'Maw to let him stay in one place and get a penta every teamfight, you're bard, its not that easy, you won't be able to do that
Miss Fortune
if you guys time it right, you can ult the enemies followed up with your stun to let MF ult the enemies and get a double kill
Twitch
same thing as with miss fortune, your combo is strong at 6, when twitch walks to lane after backing and uses Q so the enemies don't see him you can bait them and ult them
Varus
varus might be alright if youre duo'd or if youre just in sync, try not to ult enemies that he's trying to ult first.
Vayne
while your combo is alright, vayne has to attack only one champion for her to deal damage, otherwise she doesn't get her W off and it's just underwhelming when you compare it to the combo you have with miss fortune
Xayah
you have lots of damage and cc, because of Xayah's ult you won't need to use your own ult to defend her
DISCLAIMER, this build is not the best Bard build, but it is certainly one of the most fun ones, it works best while already having a bit of experience on Bard to know what and how to do stuff!
Bard is able to proc Electrocute by auto attacking once with his passive and his Q, no other rune is so good on Bard because of the quick harassment he's able to put on the enemy ADC.
Cheap Shot let's you harass your enemy ADC even harder, when you collect chimes all over the map your passive Traveler's Call will not only deal damage, it will also slow the enemy.
Ghost Poro provides additional wards for your Pepega teammates, maybe they will live to see another day or they'll ignore the minimap and die anyway, Eyeball Collection is nice too.
Relentless Hunter it's good, makes your roams even faster, you get punished even less for securing your team with kills and getting more chimes for yourself.
Celerity gives a nice chunk of movement speed, i also like taking Transcendence which gives a nice chunk of ability haste, take whichever you prefer.
Scorch gives a lot of early poke dmg but falls of later in the game, can be swapped for either Waterwalking or Gathering Storm depending on what you need or what you prefer.
ABILITIES
Your Q deals lots of damage, has decent scaling and is crucial for AP Bard, leveling it up quickly provides you with more than enough damage to destroy the enemy botlane, the better you are at skillshots the more rewarding your Cosmic Binding will get.
Caretaker's Shrine doesn't heal for a whole lot but the heal/movement speed from it can often save your adc or your own skin, place 3 shrines under tower or in safe place, if you use another Caretaker's Shrine directly on yourself or your ally it won't count as 'over the limit' and will not replace a shrine you already placed.
Magical Journey is your only mobility spell, the mana cost is low and it saves you time to travel around with it, but be careful, while in Magical Journey you cannot change directions or sidestep, making you an easy target for spells like Final Spark.
Tempered Fate very powerful ability that can turn any game around, use it often to try and get experience and the feeling when to use it and how, on whom.
ITEMS
Spellthief's Edge is just really good, you're rewarded for poking the enemy and playing aggressively which is the point of this build.
Mobility Boots mobis are working best on Bard, you need as much movement speed early as possible to ensure that you get your teammates ahead, this allows you to get chimes, kills and leaving the lane without losing a ton of xp while also getting solo xp for your adc.
Imperial Mandate is really good since you have a lot of slows just from your passive meeps Traveler's Call which also procs the item's effect when it explodes on your enemy synergizing with it well.
Rapid Firecannon i like this item, it gives a lot of range which makes us take less damage in the process of trading or fighting, it gives us the ability to slow someone and catch them
it's usually my last item because its less expensive than Cosmic Drive and while it is more expensive, it gives you much more ability haste, some nice ap and a lot of movement speed too, if you need healing reduction take Oblivion Orb and just upgrade it as the last item, it's not as crucial as getting the other items which synergize with everything in your kit.
THREATS
pretty much every heavy cc tank support like Thresh, Leona, Pyke etc. can punish you very hard since you're squishy when trying to play aggressive, try to play safe as much as possible and only go for trades when you know their spells are not up yet, when they're going for cs and/or make them as short as possible, wait for your jungler to gank you and only once you feel confident enough you can try to fight the enemy botlane without your jungler, this can feel annoying at times but that's the magic of this build, it's sometimes annoying to play but once you're able to oneshot the enemy adc it's very satisfying to see the enemy adc use allchat and tilt.
most adc's can outtrade you the longer you fight them, for example Draven, Lucian, Varus etc. this build is especially good for short trades that the enemy adc often can't react to, try to auto attack them with your Traveler's Call to punish them for going for cs.
lux syndrome supports like Lux, Brand, Zyra etc. are annoying to play against because of their high range skillshots that have high damage, try to play safely and punish when their abilities are on cooldown.
adc's like Kalista, Jhin, Twitch are kinda easy to play against because of your quick trades, but dont underestimate their damage, you need to have experience with this build to be able to tell when it's safe to trade and when not, with Jhin you should also wait until he uses his abilities and with Kalista you should have it in head that she still has her E which will punish you greatly if you go just even in the trade without her even using it
SYNERGIES
GOOD SYNERGY
your favorite adc's to play with are adc's that can follow up on your engages well, like Tristana, Varus, Lucian etc. the follow-up these champions have when you stun the enemy adc is just as insane as the dmg you have.
BAD SYNERGY
Ezreal, Kalista and Kog'Maw are the worst adc's to play with, while the dmg and all is fine, you need minions to hit your Cosmic Binding easier and Ezreal most probably won't be able to use his full potential because of the minions blocking his abilities, the ult of Kalista Fate's Call is mostly used to engage, hence it's not the best adc to play with, she makes you put yourself in danger while being squishy, Kog'Maw is not a bad adc at all, but it's bad with you, you don't buy items to protect him and he's too squishy to be able to do something on his own, all you have to protect him with is your spells and that's not enough.
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